I think of myself as somewhat typical of how the problem here started. I was rather radical in my youth, and still think of myself that way, but in my mid-years, post Vet-Nam and Nixon my political activities waned and the sort of desperate attempt to raise kids in the Reagan economy took precedence.
I consider myself pretty well-educated and with a degree in Geography, more attuned than most of my countrymen to the wider prospects of the world. About a decade ago I had a young Spanish girl as an exchange student. She used to come home bewildered by the ignorance of the kids here. She came in one day and said, "they asked me if we had CARS in Spain." It was embarassing.
A few years back I finally was able to afford a trip to Europe, primarily France. One of my old military buddies had grown up in Germany as an Army brat and we, along with our wives, got passports and some money and a few days reservations in Paris and went. we were there, and Amsterdam and a few little towns between for a week, then on the Fast train to Bordeaux for my wife and I where we decamped in the late evening with no plan, knowledge, or reservations. We stayed at a very cheap place across from the station and rented a car the next morning and ended up staying at St. Emilion for a few days then back to Paris. This trip was an eye-opener. I knew, in my head, that Europe was different, I was not ready for the feeling that this was a better way. It surprised me, I always sort of unquestioningly took it for granted that our way, deteriorating though it was, was the best way-maybe even only way. I was smitten.
In the years since, there has been such a drastic catastrophe in the US political position that I often despaired, particularly after the '04 election. It was about that time that I was turned on to the dkos site by my 22 year old daughter. I found a large number of people that were as pissed as I was and who saw through the bullshit. At the same time I followed Jerome"s link and came here.
I don't know how to say this exactly, but I believe it is desperately important to keep the dialogue alive between us, we need you. I think we need each other. If we cannot stop the corporate monster that has grasped the reins here and really is stronger there than is generally accredited. I can't help but think that a good portion of the foolish swagger that is the public face of this administration causes much of the disgust toward the US right now. And, that is fair. It is our government that is doing this. We are trying to change it.
I won't run on any longer, I just wanted to thank you all for your kind words to me, and to try to express some of the problems as I see them. Mainly I say don't underestimate how hard many of us are trying in this battle to open up the debate to a more realistic range of choices.
I'm off to an office party, hopefully I won't get wasted and make an ass of myself. But, one never knows. "I said, 'Wait a minute, Chester, You know I'm a peaceful man...'" Robbie Robertson
I should say that "Bad Colman" is Colman's own debunking description of himself. But he's very often Good Colman.
One student told me that he was asked (in Beverly, Mass) if "you have vegetables in Algeria!" Another student told me how his hostess pointed to the carpet and showed him an ashtray and said, "Here in America, we use ashtrays when we're indoors."
These comments do not indicate ignorance of history and geography, any more than asking "Do you have gravity in Algeria?" indicates ignorance of geography. These comments come from a religious perspective - one that makes the US the Holy Land - and absolves Merkans of any need to develop common sense, empathy, or the ability to listen.
